State mowing & litter collection in crisis

Last year, the Queensland State government decided to remove funding from council to maintain vegetation and litter collection from State controlled roads. This left... (Read more) ...large areas of land in Division 10 looking terribly overgrown and littered with bottles, rubbish and debris.

I received a number of calls from residents, who understandably are not always aware which roads are council or state controlled, they just want them clean and tidy.

Here is a Map of State Controlled Roads in Redlands: http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/Travelandtransport/Maps%20and%20guides/Queensland%20maps/Queensland%20region%20maps/region%20maps%20september%202011/metropolitan%20east.pdf

Councillors were reluctant to accept a cost-shift from state government to our residents, and since there is a cost to pay for mowing contractors, we decided not to do ‘their’ job.

So, when I found that we were in a stand-off, I decided to go and mow some of the areas myself. Somehow the paper heard of my intention and asked to do a story with some photographs. I had never imagined it would end up as ‘front-page news’ in the Redland Times, but it was all for a good cause and by the following Thursday, the State contractors from RoadTek were on the job. When I asked why mowing had commenced, they said it was because ‘they had received a number of complaints from residents.’

Residents concerned about maintenance of median strips, footpaths and roadsides along state controlled roads can contact the state government on 13 19 40 or go online

Thanks for your phone calls, emails and Facebook support about the issue and special thanks to the families who were ready to engage in Local Community Action by helping me to mow the footpaths if crews had not arrived, just before the rain.